And he that is to be cleansed shall wash his garments, and shave all his hair, and bathe in water, and he shall be clean; and afterwards shall he come into the camp, and shall abide outside his tent seven days.
Leviticus 14 describes how a man healed of a skin disease was brought back from exile to the people of God. Verse 8 comes after the priest has already declared him clean — so why is there still washing, shaving and a seven-day wait outside his own tent?
Verse 8 marks a turn in the chapter.
If you have followed the first seven verses of this chapter, you will have noticed something. The man does not have to do one single thing. Everything was done for him... But now all is changed. Now the leper starts to work.
The order matters. The washing does not earn the verdict; the verdict makes the washing possible.
It may seem strange that the priest pronounced the leper clean back in verse 7. But that verdict is the sure and cheering ground for starting the practical work of cleansing himself in verses 8 and 9. Being pronounced clean by divine authority gives the highest assurance. It does not replace the moral cleansing the Lord calls for in every respect. On the contrary, it gives priceless encouragement to go into every detail and work through it, as here.
The priest sprinkled blood on him in verse 7. Now water comes in, and the two are not interchangeable.
The blood shed and sprinkled, precious and effective as it is judicially for the unclean, is not all. There is and must be a moral cleansing also by the water of the word applied to the sinner. Out of the pierced side of Jesus flowed not blood only but water... The sinner needs for blessing not only expiation, but purification.
They also differ in how often each one comes.
The bird was slain only once. The blood was sprinkled only once, but the water may be applied many times... This showed the constant need for cleansing from the defilements of this world. Not by blood — that was done once, and once only — but by water, the water of the Word.
The first thing washed is not the man himself but what he wears.
The clothes tell us of that which touches us — our associations — that with which we have to do, that which the world around sees as connected with us. Perhaps people have been used to seeing us in the gambling halls, or in other evil places. All these associations and ways must be "washed." How do we wash our ways and associations? We get that question answered for us in Psalm 119:9 — "How can a young man keep his way pure?" That is the question. Here is God's own answer: "By guarding it according to your word."
This is also what makes him fit to walk back in among the people.
The blood has been applied in its expiating power. Then comes the washing of water. This expresses the action of the word on the character, the habits, the ways. It makes the person fit for a place in the public assembly, morally and practically — and not only in God's view, but in the view of the congregation too.
The shaving was no small thing for an Israelite.
It was a mark of shame and reproach... But now all this hair must come off. All his own natural beauty and glory must go. Everything that might shelter any uncleanness must be cut off, at any cost.
The cost showed the moment he walked down the street.
In that land every man had a fine head of hair and a big bushy beard. So the cleansed leper, without hair or beard, would indeed be a spectacle. As he walked down the street, many a finger would point at him, many a joke would be cracked at his expense. But was it not worth while? Was it not infinitely better to be cleansed and among the Lord's people without a beard, than to wander outside the camp with a beard, crying "Unclean! Unclean!"
The verse grants him one thing and withholds another: he may enter the camp, but not his own tent, for a week.
He had been sprinkled with blood and washed with water. That entitled him to a place in the public assembly. Even so, he could not enter his own tent. He could not yet enjoy the private, personal privileges that belonged to his own particular place in the camp. In other words, he knew redemption through the shed and sprinkled blood, and he took the word as the rule for his person and all his habits. But he had still to be brought, in the power of the Spirit, into full and intelligent communion with his own place, portion, and privileges in Christ.
Another writer draws the same distinction as two stages — public restoration first, then the eighth day:
First, the restoration to a place among the people of God, from whom he had been separated; and this is done upon the first day, when he returns to the camp; secondly, on the eighth day, there is a new and only now complete cleansing, by which he is brought fully to God, and restored to his tent also.
- Verdict, then work. The man washes because the priest has already declared him clean, not to get himself declared clean. Up to verse 7 he does nothing at all.
- Blood, then water. The blood dealt with guilt once and for all. The water of the word keeps working on habits, again and again.
- Clothes, then hair. First the outer layer — the company and ways that others see, washed by heeding God's word. Then his own natural beauty and glory go, whatever people say.
- Camp, then tent. Cleansing restores him to public fellowship at once, but private enjoyment of his own place waits for the days that follow.
And it shall come to pass on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair, his head, and his beard, and his eyebrows, even all his hair shall he shave, and he shall wash his garments, and shall bathe his flesh in water, and he is clean.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.